7 U.S.C. § 499n : US Code - Section 499N: Inspection of perishable agricultural commodities

Search 7 U.S.C. § 499n : US Code - Section 499N: Inspection of perishable agricultural commodities

(a) Employment of inspectors; fees and expenses; inspection
certificate as evidence
The Secretary is authorized, independently and in cooperation
with other branches of the Government, State, or municipal agencies
and/or any person, whether operating in one or more jurisdictions,
to employ and/or license inspectors to inspect and certify, without
regard to the filing of a complaint under this chapter, to any
interested person the class, quality, and/or condition of any lot
of any perishable agricultural commodity when offered for
interstate or foreign shipment or when received at places where the
Secretary shall find it practicable to provide such service, under
such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, including the
payment of such fees and expenses as will be reasonable and as
nearly as may be to cover the cost for the service rendered:
Provided, That fees for inspections made by a licensed inspector,
less the percentage thereof which he is allowed by the terms of his
contract of employment with the Secretary as compensation for his
services, shall be deposited into the Treasury of the United States
as miscellaneous receipts; and fees for inspections made by an
inspector acting under a cooperative agreement with a State,
municipality, or other person shall be disposed of in accordance
with the terms of such agreement: Provided further, That expenses
for travel and subsistence incurred by inspectors shall be paid by
the applicant for inspection to the United States Department of
Agriculture to be credited to the appropriation for carrying out
the purposes of this chapter: And provided further, That official
inspection certificates for fresh fruits and vegetables issued by
the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to any law shall be received
by all officers and all courts of the United States, in all
proceedings under this chapter, and in all transactions upon
contract markets under Commodities Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et
seq.), as prima-facie evidence of the truth of the statements
therein contained.
(b) Issuance of fraudulent certificates; penalties
Whoever shall falsely make, issue, alter, forge, or counterfeit,
or cause or procure to be falsely made, issued, altered, forged, or
counterfeited, or willingly aid, cause, procure or assist in, or be
a party to the false making, issuing, altering, forging, or
counterfeiting of any certificate of inspection issued under
authority of this chapter, sections 491, 493 to 497 of this title,
or any Act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture;
or shall utter or publish as true or cause to be uttered or
published as true any such false, forged, altered, or counterfeited
certificate, for a fraudulent purpose, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not
more than $500 or by imprisonment for a period of not more than one
year, or both, at the discretion of the court.